Elderly woman found dead ID'd

Updated 11:44 am, Tuesday, May 7, 2013

An elderly woman whose body was discovered in her North Side home Monday afternoon has been identified, and though her husband told police that she was murdered, no evidence has emerged to indicate foul play was involved.

Sandra Johnson, 71, was apparently found dead by her husband when he returned home to the 4300 block of Hollow Hill about 5 p.m., according to an incident report. He called police, frantically telling them that someone had killed his wife.

“They came in and they shot her,” he reportedly yelled out at officers. “They did it!”

The woman's husband was pacing on the home's front yard as investigators searched for evidence inside.

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It appeared as though Johnson had just arrived home from the grocery store — plastic bags of groceries were found near her body and inside her unlocked vehicle outside. Her purse and open wallet lay beside her.

A revolver was found next to Johnson's body, which lay on the floor in the home's master bedroom. Police saw a single bullet hole to the left side of her chest through her black tracksuit.

There were no signs that someone had broken inside, and no one who lived at the home was believed to be there when the shooting occurred, police said.

Johnson's husband told police that he last saw his wife about noon. She had apparently canceled a doctor's appointment she had scheduled for 1:30 p.m. without telling her husband, the report says.

Officials with the medical examiner's office said the manner of Johnson's death was not yet known Tuesday morning.

“We can't rule out anything right now,” Sgt. Javier Salazar said at the scene of the shooting Monday afternoon.